Microsoft Cloud Operations & Innovation seeks a new Regional Lead in our Energy Markets team, focused on parts of Central Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa. The candidate will lead a team of program managers responsible for managing datacenter interconnection and energy supply contract development with utilities and 3rd party energy suppliers in certain geographical markets. The team is responsible for driving analysis around energy industry trends, market policy and energy regulation in its geographical region. The team will also manage and drive development internally and externally around certain sustainability programs.

The candidate will deliver success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching and caring. The candidate will define team objectives and outcomes, enable success across organizational boundaries, and help the team members to adapt, learn and grow their careers. The candidate will be responsible for the team’s delivery on business objectives.

As the team will be leading Microsoft’s energy efforts in certain markets, the candidate will need to understand the dynamics of energy markets and Microsoft’s own unique position in the energy sector. The candidate will support the team members in their work with driving site selection efforts and datacenter interconnection strategy and execution in partnership with utilities, developing business cases for new technology applications at the datacenters, communicating project needs and manage relationships across internal and external stakeholders, negotiating energy supply agreements, identifying regulatory and policy opportunities for Microsoft, and identifying market conditions material to our business.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

People management and team development

• Live our culture, embody our values, and practice our leadership principles.
• Define team objectives and outcomes, and help the team adapt and learn.
• Attract and retain great people, know everyone’s capabilities and aspirations, and invest in the growth of others.
• Establish a team culture of learning and growing, where team members feel empowered to do their best work and feel energized by the work they do
• Support team members in their career growth at Microsoft

Capacity delivery

• Lead the team’s work with datacenter interconnection and energy supply contract development with utilities and third-party energy suppliers in support of Microsoft’s datacenter businesses across the team’s geographical area.
• Identify, monitor, and mitigate key risks relating to power delivery across the team’s geographical area.
• Lead the team’s work with the analysis of energy industry trends, market policy and regulations across the team’s geographical area.
• Partner with internal stakeholders on site selection and energy project development, e.g. distributed energy, land acquisition, construction. 
• Lead the team’s work to build relationships with external suppliers and partners, particularly electric utilities, local and regional regulatory agencies, customers, and energy technology providers. 
• Business travel required (10%-25%, subject to fluctuation with business tempo). 

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, finance, engineering disciplines, business, or sustainability AND relevant working experience, or relevant Master’s degree AND proven working experience
• Broad understanding of the European power industry, with specific focus on the mechanics of deregulated power markets.
• Demonstrated experience from leading other people
• Experience from negotiating and executing power contracts in Europe
• Experience from working within the energy and utility industry in Europe
• Possess an entrepreneurial, self-directed spirit and proven track record of project execution.
• Solid interpersonal and communications (verbal and written) skills.
• Growth mindset with a passion for working with other people

Preferred Qualifications:

• General understanding of data centers and cloud services.
• Post-graduate degree in relevant fields a plus, though experience in consulting and power/energy industries may substitute for relevant graduate education in this regard. 

These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.